1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the simultaneous cleaning of a plurality of pipe conduits or pipe conduit systems, particularly in each case having different pipe cross sections, wherein the cleaning takes place with a liquid cleaning medium, which is taken from a reservoir by means of a feed pump and fed to the systems to be cleaned, as well as to a device for carrying out such a method.
2. Description of Related Art
In this case use is made of the well-known method of “CIP”, that is to say “Cleaning in Place”. CIP for cleaning pipe systems has long been the prior art for several decades for cleaning food-filling equipment for example. Although food-filling equipment or filling machines for short are mentioned below, the present invention is not to be limited, in any way, to just these machines, so that any pipe conduits or pipe conduit systems can be cleaned with the method according to the invention.
It is characteristic in this case for various cleaning media from a decentralized supply unit (in brief: CIP equipment) to be mixed, maintained at the right temperature and kept at the ready, in order whenever there is a cleaning requirement to transport the required medium by means of a pump and a pipe conduit system to the system to be cleaned.
Early CIP equipment supplied the cleaning media (temperature and concentration) on demand for the system to be cleaned in a fixed sequence and duration, which was determined by a program stored in the CIP equipment.
The cleaning medium during the cleaning process was pumped through the system to be cleaned, then, however, drained into the sewers. This method is called “lost” cleaning, since the cleaning medium is not recycled.
In order to achieve environmentally friendly and economic production processes, so-called CIP re-circulation cleaning with “stacking” of cleaning solutions was developed, wherein the cleaning media (usually caustic and/or acid solutions) were returned to the CIP via pipes and re-used there for as long a time as the cleaning strength was sufficient.
The well-known methods of the CIP equipment, however, could be improved:                The flow-rate (mechanics) of the cleaning solution supplied depends on the capacity of the CIP pump, the dimension of the supply pipe and the conduit length between CIP equipment and filling machine. Therefore in practice flow-rates of between 10 and 15 m3/h are used.        This flow-mechanics factor greatly affects the cleaning result, therefore the quantity supplied is often too little, depending on the tank sizes and pipe cross sections used in filling machines, and a satisfactory cleaning result is only achieved by means of a long cleaning period, since the flow-rate (and therefore the cleaning efficiency) is greatly reduced in the case of large diameters.        Often rotating balls are used in tanks, which are designed to exert extra mechanical cleaning force on the tank surfaces. This solution, however, carries aseptic risks and cannot be used in the case of so-called reverse cleaning (reversal of the direction of flow during cleaning), since there is a danger that lumpy products will not be completely removed.        In principle only one filling system can be cleaned via a pipe system at the same time, unless two filling machines undergo the same cleaning steps simultaneously. However, if two filling systems are designed for different products (here water and products with lumps), there is the danger that lumps from the other filling system ingress the filling system, which is dimensioned (smaller) for water and clog this up.        Also, in the case of the larger dimensioned filling system higher flow-rates are needed than is the case for the water filling system, in order to achieve a similar cleaning result in the same period.        Therefore, up to now it has been necessary, when these two different filling systems are used, to connect two separate CIP pipes to two separate pumps in order to be able to clean the systems commensurate with the product at the same time.        